Faces of Parkes business: The life of a baker and more at Smeaton's Bakehouse

Bruce and Gail Lindbeck celebrated 25 years in business - with the incredible gift to their customers of 1997 prices!

That took meat pies back to $2, slices to $1 and apple turnovers to $1.50, it was a genuine shock to spoil the family with delicious vanilla slice, custard tart and cupcakes for less than $10!

They'd also put together a few price comparisons including: average weekly wages rising from $411 in 1997 to $1305 now; a Toyota Hilux rising from $28,000 to $58,000; Apple iMac coming down in price from $2500 to $2199 but a Mars Bar jumping from 60c to $2.

We asked baker Bruce to be in this week's business feature, and he's answered a few of our questions about being a baker and in small business in our community.

Many thanks to the Lindbecks, and our best wishes for the future of Smeaton's!

It looks like Smeaton's is very much a family business, can you tell us who works in the bakery and what they do?

The bakery is operated by my wife and I, and two of our children. My daughter decorates our birthday cakes and does most of the production for pastries, slices etc. My wife assists our daughter with those duties and my son has been with us for the last 7.5yrs, he is front of house and occasionally comes up with new ideas for products to sell. I then produce the bread, pies, pastries etc and try to find a way to make some of my son's ideas.

Can you tell us about a day (or night!) in the life of a baker?

Typically I come in at midnight (earlier or later depending on what needs to be done), I make a cup of tea and look at our production schedule. Bread will be the first thing I start on because it takes approx six hours to produce from beginning to end, then I'll start on pastries cakes, sausage rolls and pies are the last things I'll make on the run.

How did you get started in your career?

I learnt to bake at 55 years old when I purchased the bakery. The previous owner stayed on for six months to teach me as much as he could.

To this day there are still things I'm learning as each day there is something a little different when you make food from scratch. Prior to owning the bakery my wife and I were the managers of the Bathurst Goldfields, before that I worked in club management and for the ANZ.

You're celebrating 25 years at Smeaton's - what are some of the big shifts and changes you've seen in those years?

There has been a big shift toward supermarket shopping "convenience". Twenty five years ago we were selling approx eight dozen loaves of bread a day, now we sell only 1-2 dozen. At Easter we were selling approx 130 dozen Hot Cross Buns the day before Good Friday 20-25 yrs ago, now we sell about 12 doz the day before Good Friday.

We all love to go into the bakery and get those classic treats - whether it's a custard tart, a vanilla slice or a meat pie - is there an all-time most popular item that you make sure you always have on hand?

It's hard to name an all-time most popular item, during the Elvis Festival we sell quite a lot of our custard tarts (you may have seen them on social media), our pies and sausage rolls are obviously one of our main product lines but I would say that one of our products that sets us apart is our bread.

We are one of the few remaining bakeries that make a bulk fermented timed dough. Without getting too specific most bread from bakeries and supermarkets are a no-time dough, meaning it is mixed at high speed for 10-15 mins, cut up and moulded, proofed in the tin and then baked. This process takes about 1-1.5 hrs.

We mix our bread on slow speed for 30-40mins, proof it as one giant dough for approx two to three hours, then it is cut, proofed in the tin for another 30mins to an hour and then baked. This process over five to six hours results in a bread with a lighter texture and a smell and taste that you don't get otherwise. It is very similar to a sourdough in that respect. Plus, the added benefit of a bulk fermented dough is that it gives the gluten more time to break down into smaller particles making it easier to digest.

It's been a tough couple of years for many businesses, what do you think could be done to support local business better?

The simplest way for people to support local business is to walk through the doors of their shop and buy something.

Here is a very simple scenario, if everybody in Parkes earning money (let's say 8000 people), spent $5 a day at a different business they would spend $150 a month ($5 x 30), each of those 30 businesses would then have a monthly revenue of $40,000 (8000 x $5) and over 12 months that would be approx $14.4 million in our local economy, all if consumers redirect some of their spending from major chains/franchises and online shopping to local businesses. Obviously you can't spend $5 at every business but you can spend a couple of months' worth two to three times a year.

Buy a book or two from Idlers Den instead of online, a t-shirt or a pair of thongs from Byrnes Clothing or a dress from Little Black Dress, a case of beer from the Grand Hotel drive through, or your bread and meat from our local butchers and bakers.

By doing this, these businesses then have the capacity to hire our local tradies to do work or purchase a new car from our local dealerships or even be able to spend a couple of hours at our local pubs or even hiring new staff. Thus keeping money in our local community is the best way to ensure the viability of our town.

A fun question to finish up - do you have any interests or hobbies when you get time away from baking, or are there any fun facts about you that people might not know?

I'm very active in my garden, growing roses and vegetables. I also enjoy some fellowship work at St George's Anglican Church and I do like to read if I get some time off but running your own business for 60 hours a week leaves little time for these things.